Paradox Gem
by Lost in Flight
Summary: Clockwork's true job is to repair time paradoxes. Danny's multiple trips into alternate realities has forced him to take drastic measures to prevent the present from imploding on itself. However, When Clockwork isn't around, time itself begins to unravel… Danny comes to find out that, just maybe, he has toyed with Time on one too many occasions.
1. One

Thank you so much for taking time to read this... I'm not a very good writer, and this is my first time posting anything online, so I'm kind of nervous and I hope it won't be too unbearable... :)

Danny/ Vlad Father son sort of thing.

_Note for those who did not watch that particular episode (If you did please skip):_

_The Ecto Acne incident was where Vlad has an outbreak of Ecto Acne and asks Daniel for help. He threatens his friends and contaminates them with ecto acne. To prevent the ecto acne ourbreak, Danny Goes back in time with clockwork's help. However, he Accidentally changes the timeline to have Vlad marry his mom. He eventually manages to change it back and cure everyone with the help of a can of coke._

_Multiple references to items and events in the show in this chapter, but if you didn't get it, it's fine. They will hopefully get clearer later. :) No PP. And so without further ado..._

One

-o*o-

Aftermath of The Ecto Acne infection incident…

The Fenton household was officially deemed safe enough to be removed from quarantine after the last overly large zit cleared from Tucker's face. Vlad was long gone, choosing to disappear before Danny could take revenge for harming his friends. One of his insanely long limos had pulled up and driven him away before the elder Fentons could insist on him staying over for a more through checkup. He had left without so much as a word of thanks to Danny. Not that Danny cared. He was just glad he wouldn't be seeing that cheesehead again for some time.

"So, Danny, how did you know that it was coke?" Tucker suddenly asked, between bites of his burger. They were hanging out in the nasty burger on a typical Saturday. They occupied the corner of the shop, close enough to the window, and far away from the center of the shop and the doorway so they could avoid the jocks. Sam had her tofu soy melt, Danny had a cheeseburger, and as usual Tucker had ordered every single meat related burger available on the menu.

"Clockwork helped." Danny responded cryptically. He didn't quite feel like talking about that alternate timeline where Vlad was married to his mom. That was just too creepy to contemplate for the moment.

"Dude, that's like, what, the second time he's done you a major favor? You so owe him."

"I know. I'm more thankful than ever, but it's not like I can just repay him… That guys knows, well, everything. Heck, not to sound paranoid, but he might even be looking at me right now, through that screen thingy of his. There's almost nothing I can do for someone that powerful." Danny sighed.

"You could bring him cookies. You tried that?" Sam suggested, half jokingly. "Everyone loves those."

Tucker responded. "And unleash the Lunch Lady on him? No thanks… Although speaking of the Lunch Lady, what about giving him meat?" He ducked as Sam threw a ketchup packet aimed at his face.

As predicted, this restarted the highly controversial meat vs veggies fight between Sam and Tucker, with Danny caught in the middle snickering at his friends' antics.

Little did they know, that Danny's next meeting with clockwork would come sooner than expected.

-o*o-

PRESENT TIME...

Clockwork knew everything.

Or so he claimed.

The truth was, he knew everything- except for what went on in the depths of the complicated minds of the Observants.

Oh, he could deduce it very well all right. It was almost easy, considering how long he had worked for that bunch of over glorified eyeballs. Their aims were similar. Their goal at the end of the day was always to ensure that life still existed and their reality didn't just collapse into a puddle of mush. There was one key difference between them, however. Clockwork still retained some semblance of humanity and compassion while the Observants simply observed from up high in their perch with their cold, heartless indifference and logic. It mattered not to them who lived or died, as long as their visions of peace and stability in the universe was achieved and maintained. As they say, they end justified the means. The death of one was easily justified if it saved the many. And it was this difference that resulted in Clockwork being stuck in his current unfortunate situation.

If you remembered Vortex and his trial, you would probably notice the eerie similarities between that particular occasion and the one Clockwork was in right now. They were in the high Observant Tower, also known as the Observatory. Except this one wasn't made to look at the stars. Its purpose was far more crucial and every decision made in here had the possibility of affecting millions.

Clockwork was stuck on trial, and he wasn't in the jury, he was the convicted. The courtroom was huge and circular in shape, with seats for the observants ringing the sides in increasing heights. Hundreds of eyeballs glared at him, floating in a prison that looked somewhat like a cross between a clear test tube and a Tupperware box on stage in the center of the circular court. It was the exact same scenario and location as Vortex's trial. The reason for his trial, however, was simple, yet complicated. The simplest version of it was that a few days ago, the Observants had decided to draft up and enact the Resolution, an act that, at the first glance, solves standing problems with the time stream and alters the course of time permanently.

Clockwork had disagreed with it.

"Clockwork." The head observant, looking down at him from a seat up high, called out. He was an eyeball just like the rest of them. The only difference was that the diameter of his eye was larger and he was wearing fancier robes that indicated his rank and status. "You are hereby convicted of attempting to act against the Observant court's decision to enact the Resolution. It has been seen as an act of rebellion and we will act accordingly to stop all rebellion, as per protocol. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

The master of time smiled wistfully. "Only to once again appeal against your decision. Nothing you haven't heard before…" he trailed off, speaking in his usual deep voice. He appeared to be bored.

"The council has decided through majority vote that the Resolution is in order. It is for the best."

"You do realize that your so called Resolution will endanger the existence of millions of lives, don't you?

"We have no choice. The time stream is unstable as of current."

"I was handling the time stream just fine, although I do appreciate your efforts to do my job for me."

"Your word is insufficient! What if it grows too large of a problem for you to control? Especially in that alternate reality where HE was created. Relying on a simple ghost containment device created by a mere mortal instead of immediate termination as we ordered. You handled that most brilliantly." The high Observant remarked, voice dripping sarcasm at those last two words, voice momentarily breaking out of his controlled monotone to betray his anger.

Clockwork smiled. "Perhaps, instead of fearing that my power is insufficient, it is the opposite. I am too powerful for you to control, and the truth is that you simply do not trust me. You fear the consequences should I shun my responsibility and turn against you one day."

The court was silent. As usual, there was a grain of truth in Clockwork's words. The Observant council shifted uncomfortably in their seats. The high observant, though, was not about to admit it.

"Whatever the reason for the resolution, the reality of it is, despite the sacrifices, it shall be beneficial to time in the long run. We've discussed it before, clockwork. The trial is over. I've heard enough, and my decision is unchanged. I hereby sentence you to incarceration within the Observatory for an undetermined amount of time for treason, and release pending the resolution's completion. By the time you are released, you will no longer be able to stop it."

Clockwork's face betrayed no emotion. The Observatory guards were about to lead clockwork off the stage, and the council had almost started breaking out in chatter when he finally spoke up.

"I believe you forgot something. All convicted are, by Observatory rules, allowed to inform one ghost of their current situation, aren't they?"

The high observant paused. He was hoping Clockwork wouldn't bring it up. It was the Ghostly version of a 'one phone call' allowance used in human jails.

"Who do you wish to contact?"

"I believe you already know him. Danny Phantom."

"He is not a full ghost!"

"You didn't seem to have any problem judging him like one in the past."

It was true. The Observants had ordered Clockwork to execute him during the Ultimate enemy incident, when they could only order a death penalty on Ghosts. He grudgingly conceded. "Very well. It is in order."

Clockwork smiled. All was as it should be.

-o*o-

Vladimir Masters was a highly efficient man.

The billionaire didn't believe in 'bad luck'. He believed luck was simply something insubstantial that was used as an excuse, something for the weak to pin the blame on when things weren't going well. Every detail of his life was planned. Fixed. Preorganized. You either had to schedule a meeting with Mr. Masters months before or, depending on your status and rank, days before at the very least. He had a reason for most of his actions. What he set out to gain, he got. (Maybe except where the Fenton family is concerned) And he certainly didn't do surprises or improvisation.

Which made what happened on that day all the more surprising.

A typical morning for him was much like that of every other business tycoon's. In his office, waited on by his secretaries. His workers and business partners didn't suspect a thing about him. Other than the mysterious lack of coffee that every worker seemed to require like a drug in the early hours, The suspicious days off he took at a moment's notice, and the secrecy and security present in his mansion and private offices, He acted like any normal human.

And it was according to schedule that he was standing at the front of a long polished wooden meeting table, addressing several other powerful men and women dressed in suits. It was something he had, naturally, planned for beforehand. It was barely lunch, and the halfa was already in the middle of one of his oily plans for sucking money out of others. (When is he ever not plotting something evil?) Personally, Mr. Masters disliked this method of business. It required extended hours of his person interacting with some of the most boring, selfish people in the world with nothing on their minds but self gain. He had to act polite and refined, and pretend he actually_ cared _about whatever compromise or deal they could cook up.

But then, he was a master at manipulating others. Years of experience helped. So did ghost powers. But he couldn't simply overshadow them this time. Not now. At this stage, finesse was what was required. It was a delicate procedure, but he was fairly confident he could do it.

The décor was modern and tasteful, and hinted at designer origins. It was a meeting room. The place was not large by his standards. But it didn't need to be. The table only seated around 10 men. All the chairs around the table were filled with men and women, all either in their 50s or 60s and sprouting varying degrees of white hair and wrinkles from prolonged exposure to the stress and competiveness of the corporate world. The presence radiated by each of them was one of power and the stench of money clung to them.

The silence in the room was so heavy it was stifling, with the only sounds being the soft tick of the clock hung high in the room. But Vlad was not intimidated.

His personal computer was plugged into a screen, displaying the presentation that one of his secretaries had slaved away on. His speech was already pre prepared in his mind, and when he spoke, he did it with an air of authority. The content might be similar, but his was nothing close to your typical salesman pitch. Yes, he was trying to gain their money, but he did it so_ well_ that you couldn't argue with him.

"…and here, ladies and gentleman, you can see that working with DALV corp will certainly guarantee profit in the long run."

A balding man, one of the few still skeptical, spoke up. "And what about the interest rates? You must think we're some kind of idiot to not notice that in the fine print."

Vlad felt like dropping all pretenses and being openly rude. He resisted the urge with some difficulty. One simply did not become the richest man on earth by being honest. A smile still remained plastered on his face. "A valid concern, Mr.… Evans." The aforementioned Mr Evans, fortunately, missed the tone of slight contempt in the speaker's voice as his name was pronounced.

Vlad continued. "A 10% interest rate might be hefty, yes, but surely nothing unaffordable. Think of it as an initial deposit. Any money we will make will return your deposit in the long run almost tenfold, to the point where the rate doesn't even matter anymore. Surely a bit of smart investment couldn't hurt your company…After all, 10%'s nothing compared to what you could potentially earn…"

And so on and so forth._ Remind me why I couldn't just overshadow them?_ Vlad inwardly groaned.

The morning dragged on, and when it was almost afternoon, the meeting was nearly over. All that was left was the video, the wrap-up and a short chat with those that still had questions. If he was lucky, he would have gained a couple million more dollars for his company before lunch. He was already looking forward to visiting the restaurant he saw the other day.

"And now, here's a short preview of what our company could offer." He pressed the play button on the remote control, and a video ran in the semi dark room, casting dancing shadows on the businessmen and women's austere faces.

The video was boring, containing a short documentary style story of the workings of DALV corp and the like. Vlad made commentaries at various intervals, further convincing his audience to see his way. He conveniently forgot to mention some of his shadier dealings, however, and the fact that he was probably going to end up swindling all their money were they to fall into the trap of trusting him.

So far, everything was going according to plan. It was just another typical day for Vlad Masters.

Not for long.

Like the flavors of a jelly bean, the video had a nasty hidden surprise inside that Vlad had no way of predicting. And he wasn't going to like it.

The DALV worker displayed on the screen that had a fake smile on her face, bowing to the camera, got frozen mid sentence. The video appeared to be jammed for the briefest of seconds, and a look of confusion appeared on the billionaire's face- something that only makes its appearance once in a rare while.

And the screen flickered and the scene was changed. It became that of a typical alley. It was dark and shrouded in shadows. Rusty pipes bordered the brick walls. The look of confusion lingered for a moment, and then disappeared. He knew that alley. It was located in none other than Amity Park. He remembered seeing it somewhere-he just wasn't sure why he knew that alley. It seemed vaguely familiar. But what was this doing in his video of his company? He had briefly viewed the video beforehand and he knew this was not supposed to happen.

The others seated at the table weren't aware that anything was going wrong. Some even appeared borderline bored. To them, it was just another part of the video.

Vlad, however, knew that it was anything but. His fears were confirmed when a neon glow appeared from the top of the screen, a ghostly glow that was captured by the camera. The source of light came from a ghost.

Vlad froze as Plasmius appeared on screen.

Somehow, someone had managed to videotape him in his ghost form. Whoever it was, he was going to pay. Vlad made sure of it.

One of the rare moments in his life where he was at a loss for what to do appeared. But he knew that he had to stop that video at all costs before it went out of hand. He went over to his laptop, resting on top of the projector, with fast, purposeful strides. He didn't want to arouse suspicion now, did he? With unusual swiftness, he pressed the pause button on the remote control.

He jabbed the pause button a couple more times for good measure. But the projector could have been broken for all the good that did. The video continued playing.

And it got worse. Familiar black rings appeared around the specter's waist…

_Oh NO_.

And all of a sudden, he remembered. The memory rushed back at him with the force of a hammer, much too late. He usually wasn't this careless. He never took the risk of changing in a random alley, but on that day he just happened to be coming out of one of his fights with the other resident halfa who called him a fruitloop and promptly proceeded to break his nose. Needless to say, he wasn't very happy that day. And in his bad mood, he became careless.

But whatever the cause was, he needed to stop the video before it all went to hell, bringing him and his company down with it.

The expressions of the others seated at the table ranged from amused, confused, to downright shock.

The black rings started to separate. They had managed to videotape him changing between forms!

_This is NOT good._

Vlad, in a fit of desperation, moved quickly. He moved between them, using his body to block the view of the projector, and blasted the damn machine with a small but concentrated neon reddish-pink ectobeam from his index finger.

A spark of electricity and a loud band echoed around the room, and smoke immediately began wafting from the piece of technology like a coal pit. The occupants of the room gave gasps of shock and some rose from their chairs in surprise. Exclamations began to fill the room.

"What was that?"

"Mr Masters! Are you all right?"

He responded calmly, a courteous smile on his face. "Equipment malfunction, I'm afraid to say. My apologies for the inconvenience caused, but may I suggest that we continue in another room?"

Security personnel began filtering into the room, responding to the commotion in the room with their usual swiftness. No one saw the halfa's ectobeam, and the video was forgotten. It went just as he prayed it would, with his greatest secret intact.

He spoke to one of his secretaries about continuing the meeting in his place. He wasn't quite in the mood to finish up the talk. It could be done by someone else. The monetary gain from today's session was half of what Vlad had expected because of that little fiasco, but he couldn't care less about that right now. He had more pressing matters to concern himself with now anyway.

He was _mad_. Livid. Fuming. Like he'd never been before. It had come a bit too close for comfort, and while those dim-witted customers of his seemed to believe it was an accident, who knows what suspicions it could have aroused…? He had to investigate. And he had a sneaking suspicion of who was responsible. There were only a few individuals on Earth who knew his secret, and most of them were the dead. Or half dead…

Still fuming, he waved those security guards that buzzed around him away, grabbed his smoking laptop and stormed out of the room.

Someone was going to pay for this.

-o*o-

Danny sighed.

Math problems swam in his head, causing the beginnings of a headache to rise. His homework wasn't getting itself done anytime soon. Not for the first time, he wished that along with his ghost powers, he had gained some form of increased intelligence, or at the very least a method to complete homework faster. He put down his pen, planning to ask Jazz about it later. He was alone in his room, on a typical evening. For once, nothing ghostly related had interrupted him at all today. The Lunch Lady had dropped by once three days ago, and she had caused considerable damage to the cafeteria. Personally, he didn't mind as it had interrupted Dash who was about to stuff him into a locker. It was entertaining watching Dash run off as meat began to attack him, screaming like a baby. It was almost as if Karma was finally taking revenge on Mr. Baxter. After that though, nothing major occurred that Danny couldn't handle. Oh, and the box ghost had appeared twice today. But the box ghost really didn't count. All in all, a pretty good day.

Still, that didn't stop math homework from dampening his mood. He closed his textbook with a snap, spinning around in his desk chair. Danny flopped onto his bed, light blue covers rising slightly with the little puff of air that came with the action.

He sighed, blowing hair out of his face. Life had been undeniably good lately. Nothing had prevented him from studying, so he had been arriving at all his classes for a change. Mr. Lancer had been surprised at his constant attendance. His homework was getting done, there were no unscheduled visits from the ghost zone, and his parents hadn't nearly blown him to pieces unwittingly with one of their ghostly experiments. Yep, life was good.

But it was quiet. Too quiet.

With all the action he'd been getting since the portal accident, Danny hadn't known a period of time where he had gotten through even a day without some kind of paranormal intrusion. It was unusual. The same instinct that powered his ghost sense whispered to him that it was akin to the calm before the storm.

But for now, he didn't feel like killing brain cells pondering over something he couldn't control. Math had already done that for him. Jazz would have called it unhealthy paranoia anyway.

His thoughts starting to wander, Danny drifted off. He would have willingly taken a nice nap there and then, but as he adjusted himself on the bed, he realized he had accidentally squashed something when flopping down onto the bed. There was something poking uncomfortably into his stomach. Danny was pretty sure his room was messy, but not this messy. He never left anything hard on the bed. He had learnt that lesson after getting his powers. See, placing an unconscious person on a bed is so much easier if you didn't have to clear the bed and carry said person in your hands at the same time. But anyway. Danny rolled over so he was leaning onto his shoulder and pulled the offending item out from underneath him.

He would have thrown it to the side, if the cover hadn't caught his eye. It was a comic book- about him. He could have dismissed it as something those crazy Phans of his created again to cash in on his ghost half's popularity, but not just Phantom was on the cover… Fenton was, too.

Danny stared at it in shock.

He bolted upright on the bed, pulled himself into sitting cross-legged on the covers and quickly pulled the book into his hands for closer inspection. How was this possible? Did the media already know of his greatest secret, and if so, how? He flipped through, reading random pages. This book was eerily accurate. Most of the comics created with him as the protagonist were drawn with him looking like he had injected steroids into himself. The artists had no clue about what he was and what he did. Tucker had laughed at those. This one, however, portrayed Phantom in a more realistic manner. And whoever wrote this obviously knew Phantom was Fenton. Danny held the magazine in a death grip, as if he could wish it away if he focused hard enough. What the heck?

He observed it more closely. It looked vaguely familiar to him; maybe he had come across it while looking through one of Tucker's magazine collections. Tucker was the person who kept track of the media's opinions and articles about his ghost half. Usually, it was pretty demoralizing looking at all the insults people throw at phantom online, but sometimes it was funny looking at every little thing they blame him for.

His brain was still stuck in a state of shock when the space in front of his bed distorted in a circular motion like ripples in a lake. Clockwork's time-space distortion swirl appeared in midair, two purple clock hands materializing seemingly out of nowhere. The hands turned swiftly, transcending time and space, and a shadow stepped out. Danny's breath misted in front of him, and he snapped out of it to face the ghost intruding into his bedroom.

A huge green eye appeared out of the mist, causing Danny to flinch. Which was perfectly reasonable, even for one as hardened to the profession of ghost fighting as he. It was dead creepy. For one moment Danny's mind ran in circles, thinking up worst case scenarios. If the eyeball was already this big, how big was the body itself? The size of a building? Was it a dragon? The portal seemed to be from the ghost zone, but Wulf didn't seem to be anywhere in sight… Was it an army? Blinding white circles started to form at his waist in preparation…

And then a single observant stepped out. "Oh." Danny said in disbelief, relaxing from his fighting stance. _Well, that was anticlimactic._ Having never seen an observant before in his life, his following reaction was probably justified.

He poked the observant in the eye. "How you even blink like that?"

Danny could swear he saw the large eyeball roll his eyes… well… eye…in irritation. "Stop… Stop that!" The eyeball said, swatting the offending hand away.

"Hey! You can talk, Eyeball? But you don't have a mouth!" Danny grabbed the observant's hand, checking out his seemingly impossible anatomy.

"I am not an _Eyeball_. I'm an Observant!" The intruder sneered.

Danny opened his mouth to retaliate, but before he could go any further, the observant shook his hand out from the halfa's grasp. He tossed him a small, glittering item with a trailing chain, which Danny caught.

Danny looked down at his hand. The observant had passed him an intricately crafted pocket watch. It was compact yet aesthetically pleasing, silvery gold in color. The interior had three hands, with patterns along the thin strip or the minute and hour hand, indicating the time along with roman numerals etched into the sides. The center was transparent, offering a view into the inner mechanics of the watch, clicking along in mechanical harmony to create a beautifully crafted timepiece. The second hand swept about in periodical starts and halts, creating a chronologically accurate rendition of the unstoppable flow of time. Overall, the design was like that of a master clockmaker, as if someone had found a way to mesh the precision of mechanics with the fluid beauty of art, the design noticeably influenced by steampunk. It was almost anachronistic, A handmade work of olden dedication and intricacy in such a modern and mass produced age.

Danny flipped the pocketwatch close, and looked at the inscription on the front cover. Inset into the front was a beautiful red gem, triangular in shape. It looked innocent enough, but it radiated power and a sense of purpose that for some reason gave Danny a sense of DeJaVu he couldn't quite place. He looked at it for answers, but all he saw was the ruby gem glimmering innocently up at him. And around the gem, there was a familiar symbol etched into the metal of a C crossed with a W…

"Clockwork sends his regards."

Danny looked up, only to see the tail end of observant robes vanishing into the shrinking portal. He was left alone in the silent room with a pocketwatch in hand, undisturbed, wondering what momentous event he had gotten himself into this time.

-o*o-

Thank you SO MUCH for actually reading this story! Please tell me if I got anything wrong or how I can improve. I'm writing this for fun, so please, be nice :)

note: Going to have final exams soon, so story is gonna go on hiatus for a while.

Not that anyone's going to care, being only one chapter and all, but just in case anyone bothers to check. Thanks!


	2. Two

I have no idea if Dale Publishing is an actual company or not.

-o*o-

One of Tucker Foaly's many obnoxiously loud and beeping devices sounded. Said owner of device was sitting comfortably in in his room, juggling three monitors at once with the intensity of one who had his life force dripping in from the Internet in daily doses. Wires tangled around his tables like electronic webs, and Tucker sat in the middle of the net, overseer of his domain, technical jargon and electronic bits that didn't seem to go anywhere deterring any of the tech-ignorant foolish enough to wander into it's path. His ears perked at the sound, and like a trained technician, he swiveled around in his computer chair and immediately saw to the source of the disturbance.

The messaging icon blinked in welcome, the chat window opening with a click of a button.

"_Hey_" It was a chat message from Danny.

"_What's up?" _Tucker replied, fingers dancing across the keyboard.

"_Um… Something kind of came up…"_

There was a pause. The '_Danny is writing'_ sign kept blinking for a while, however, and Tucker raised his eyebrows in suspicion. Something must have happened. It was almost as if his best friend was hesitant to share, trying to compose his next words carefully. Nothing good ever came after that sentence, considering whom he was talking to. Speaking of which, what was Danny doing, writing a soliloquy? Jeez. He sure took his time composing a simple message. Some time passed, and Tucker was about to require an elaboration before a reply came.

"_And I sort of need your help."_ Danny finished.

_Of course_. Tucker grinned smugly. What would Danny Phantom do without him?

"_Tucker at your service. What do you require, oh perturbed one?"_

_"Hah-hah. Very funny, Tuck. You see, I got home today… and there was this… book…"_

Tucker frowned. Book?

_"Wrong guy, dude. I think that's Sam's area. I deal with all things electronic and beeping, and she deals with all the dead squished wood."_

_"…And I'm still convinced Technus is going to make you his apprentice one day. But Nah, it's more of a magazine, really. A fan magazine."_

Tucker rolled his eyes. Was it about that weird magazine with Danny on steroids he'd shown him the other day? He really thought Danny had gotten over it. He looked more amused than disturbed by it anyway. As if he had read Tucker's mind, Danny continued. "Not that one. A new one. One we haven't seen before. I was wondering if you know about this." And with that, Danny digitally sent him images of the magazine he'd seen lying on his bed in his room before the observant gatecrashed his examination. Tucker downloaded them almost instantaneously and flipped through it with the eye of a practiced geek. And the more he read, the larger his jaw opened in surprise.

It had a plain blue cover with words plastered everywhere, very typically that of a comic book cover. But it wasn't the format, it was the content. The comic practically described Danny's life. Sure, there were some inconsistencies, like how he couldn't have possibly made out with every girl in school, but if you took those out, it could almost pass as a shoddy biography. It wouldn't be passed among literary critique groups anytime soon, but it would certainly make a large impact. Most shocking of all was the picture on the cover. The artist rendition of Fenton and Phantom was pretty decent, but the fact that they were both on the cover was a warning sign altogether. Add that with the words: Secret Identify: Exposed! In all caps smacked onto the bottom, and it was pretty much a class one disaster.

He was pretty sure that book hadn't been circulated around, or even sold, anywhere. He would know if it had.

But why did this book look so familiar?

Scrapping the DeJaVu away into one corner of his brain for further examination, he brought up the back cover of the book again and zoomed in to read the fine print.

Dale Publishing House.

Well. That didn't sound very famous. Maybe that was why. But no, a quick Google revealed that it was not a small company, it was doing pretty well. He glanced at the publishing details and serial number, and even for one who knew only the basics, he could see that it was a book designed for a mass audience, and was already published and sold. There was even a price tag stuck on it. So why had no one seen it yet? He looked online, but He couldn't find release dates, sales locations, publishing records, nothing. He'd even considered hacking into company records, but it would be pretty pointless to keep the book a secret. Not a hide or hair of this book online. He even stalked the author and illustrator's Facebook pages, but none of them even mentioned anything about the book. Plus, they were working on some kid's nursery rhyme at the time this comic was published. He'd cross-referenced the dates and it clashed. It just didn't seem possible.

Maybe someone created a hoax magazine?

"Where did you find this?" Tucker inquired.

"Er… on my bed."

"…"

"While doing math homework."

Cue Tucker eye roll. "Any more detail you would like to add?"

"No, really, Tucker. That's it."

Well. Maybe it was someone trying to intimidate Danny. An 'I-know-your-secret' sort of thing. But why go through the trouble of making a comic book of all things if you wanted to intimidate someone? It was the equivalent of sending someone a teddy bear with the note ' I know where you live.'

A fan maybe? But a fan would just try to talk to and stalk Danny. A businessman would try to cash in on his secret. A ghost? Didn't seem likely.

Things just didn't add up. Tucker frowned.

Tucker and Danny conversed for a moment, but didn't seem to get anywhere. It would help if they had another brain to work things out.

Right on cue, an icon blinked on the top right corner of his gigantic screen. Sam had turned up online, fashionably late.

"Sam!" They quickly added her into the loop. One summarized update later, Danny hesitated, and spilled. "Oh and… Um… Clockwork showed up. Well, not really clockwork, but this giant eyeball thing…" He briefly recounted what had happened.

"And long story short… I kind of think he's in trouble."

"Clockwork? In trouble? Impossible."

"Well, maybe he just needs my help or something." Clockwork didn't show up unless something was very wrong.

Sam stared at the picture of the pocket watch. "That's a beautiful watch…That ruby… haven't we seen something like it before?"

"I don't know, rubies can be everywhere, can't they?" Tucker added. "I see one on some rich woman's purse all the time."

"Yea, but… it looks like the one Freakshow had. The power source for the reality gauntlet. I cant explain it, but it feels familiar." Danny paused as he contemplated Sam's theory, turning the mysterious pocketwatch over and over in his hands, examining every detail, as trying to decipher it's mysteries. The pocktwatch certainly had an aura of power about it, but it was different from the Reality gauntlet, right? It couldn't be the same.

"But that can't be. I destroyed the gauntlet."

"Yea… Maybe I'm just seeing things."

There was a period of silence as they exhausted all possibilities. Then, a huge bang emitted from the first floor of the Fenton household. Danny sighed and quickly typed "Maybe i should go to the ghost zone to find clockwork tomorrow. It's Saturday after all, I have all day." He paused, glancing at the door, and added, "And I'd better go down to make sure my parents aren't trying to dissect the box ghost again."

-o*o-

The love of Vlad Master's life was currently in the kitchen.

Which would have been a perfectly acceptable activity if not for the fact that the kitchen was the second most frequent explosion area aside from the lab. Standing In the cozy yet ample kitchen, with one hand on her hip, Maddie Fenton picked up a pan and flipped a sizzling, glowing green egg onto a clean plate. Jazz Fenton stood a safe distance away, a hand on her forehead in exasperation. A bazooka lay on the counter, still smoking from recent use.

"I don't get it, Jazz. These eggs are perfectly fine. Why won't you try some?"

"Mom, even if it WASN'T glowing neon green, I would be wary of anything cooked using ectoplasm!" Jazz yelled, backing out the door as Maddie shoved the plate in her face. As usual, it dissolved into one of their lectures on the health risks of consuming unknown radioactive substances.

"Fried egg is technically a dead chicken. Ectoplasm is the substance of the dead. Hence, dead equals organic, And we all know organic is good, don't we?" Mrs Fenton sighed, not understanding her daughter's reluctance to be more open minded.

"Mom, chickens are born from eggs. Eggs are unborn chickens. Therefore, you don't call eggs dead chicken. Plus, organic means that you don't use pesticides, you cant just reduce it to simple math!" Jazz countered, eyeing the wobbling, jelly like egg warily.

"So what's wrong with ectoplasm?"

The blob started growing eyes, and opening them for the first time, it blinked. Maddie remained blissfully ignorant of the developments, too focused on her daughter.

Jazz, distressed at her mother's seeming inability to see the truth, yelled "Oh, everything! That it's semi radioactive, that it has unknown side effects to the human body, and let's not forget the fact that it tries to eat you while you're trying to eat it maybe?!"

"Jazz, dear, now why are you so against ectoplasm?"

"Oh, now I'M against ghosts? Who was the one chasing ghosts around town last week with an Ecto gun?"

Danny, unfortunately, chose this moment to walk into the room. As if in response to the argument, his ghost sense went off.

"Great. I bet mom's cooking again, isn't she?"

Jazz nodded solemnly. "What gives?" she muttered sarcastically. Danny rolled his eyes, walking over to the cupboard and grabbed a spoon. This wouldn't be the first time his mom had turned perfectly edible food into a ghostly blob by accident. The blob bared its fangs at him. "I wouldn't eat that egg, mom." He remarked casually. _It would probably bite your face off._

Their mother looked down, pursing her lips._"_Well… I guess it does look a little unsafe…" Mrs F admitted. Jazz rolled her eyes, muttering about the consequences of bad parenting and denial in the face of reality.

The aspiring psychologist eyed the tray of eggs, carefully picking out one that was, as of yet, uncontaminated.

"I guess I'll have to do the cooking tonight… again." Jazz walked over, carefully avoiding those dripping with ectoplasm, snapping and vicious, just waiting for a chance to strike. They were, as of now, restrained by the fact that they had no limbs and means of propulsion and were just gelatinous blobs. But Jazz still wouldn't chance going near biting range.

Jazz eyed her brother warily. He put up an air of feigned nonchalance, but Jazz, being the older sister that she was, could see the look of quiet contemplation in his eyes and sensed there was something wrong. Not wanting to appear overbearing, she kept silent, hoping whatever it was, he could resolve soon. All she could do in her capacity was stand by and help him whenever he deemed it fit to share. And as for now, that was with the cooking. She grabbed a pan and got to work.

After living in the household for so long, it was rare for them to get a normal, uncontaminated or unexpired meal. All they had was cookies and fudge, in large amounts. Now that even Ms. F couldn't mess up or their father would be dead by now. To survive in this crazy environment, they had to develop at least some degree of culinary proficiency. Unless you wanted to eat cup noodles every time dinner got spoiled.

Ms Fenton frowned. "Bring the turkey to life once and you just can't let it go." She relented, however, to the relief of everyone present. They had no desire to end up with the substance of the undead in their stomachs again.

They weren't even halfway done with meal preparations before the doorbell rang. The sound echoed through the living room, reaching the ears of the house's occupants. Confused looks appeared on all three of their faces, as they weren't expecting any guests this evening.

Eager to do something useful after her own children had ousted her from the kitchen earlier, Maddie ran to the door. "I'll get it!" She announced. Jazz shrugged and continued as she were. It was probably the deliveryman with his package of lab materials to replace those lost in the explosion last week. Her hurried footsteps and the door unlocking and swinging open were heard above the steady sound of sizzling pans.

A beat of silence. Then-

"Vlad! How… unexpected!" They heard her say.

Danny groaned. Not another of Vlad's unscheduled visits. Jazz tensed, her mood immediately switching to that of 'overprotective older sister' mode.

"Why are you here, Vlad?" Maddie's cold voice drifted to the kitchen, echoing through the kitchen walls.

"Why, Madeline. Charming as always. It _has_ been some time since I last saw you…" His voice dropped lower, in an almost seductive manner.

Danny gagged, closed his eyes and counted to ten. It wouldn't be good if he started anything in front of his parents. Maybe he should scram while he could. Considering his state of mind, it was highly unlikely he could interact with the other halfa in any semblance of civility.

He needed someone to pin the blame on for the magazine, hastily shoved under his bed after the arrival of the observant. Standard case of 'Misplaced Aggression', except with Vlad the aggression was always returned tenfold. Work was needed to track the publishers down, to investigate exactly how his secret was leaked, and most importantly, how it ended up on his bed of all places. But it was at the back of his mind for now. He could feel the steel weight of the pocket watch in his jeans, weighing not just his pants but also his mind down. Its ominous presence was a constant reminder to Danny of his reality.

He would figure out it's meaning later. But for now, He had a Fruitloop to deal with.

Sorry, this chapter's a bit of a filler, but it was necessary.  
Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed :)


	3. Three

Thanks again for reading :) And thank you to all the people who reviewed. You guys are amazing and honestly make my day. (hugs)

Dinner was a solemn affair. While it was perfectly fine for Jack Fenton, ever so oblivious to the underlying tension in the room, it was clear to everyone that things seemed to be somewhat different today. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, with only Jack's incessant booming laughter and directionless rambling to ease the silence. And even then, it didn't do much for the mood, as he threw out mindless drivel that only served to make Danny cringe and hide behind his orange juice glass and the billionaire grip his fork tighter. They were sitting around the circular dining table, food on table, monster egg shoved in the back of the compost bin. In its place, a more threatening figure sat. Vlad Masters had somehow managed to get himself invited to dinner with the Fenton family, poised on his chair, a picture of calm and gentility, although all knew he was anything but. He wore a usual suit, his greying hair tied back in a ribbon. He sat cross-legged, calmly using his fork and knife with impeccable manners yet appearing superior while doing so. In contrast, Danny sat with his back ramrod straight, tense and wary, his head bowed as if to hide from the proceedings in the room. Jazz's eyes swept between the two, ready to interfere. Ms. Fenton appeared oblivious to her children, participating in Jack's one-sided conversations with a practiced air of false interest, occasionally shooting Vlad a hostile glance, which the recipient conveniently ignored.

"And so I was saying, Vladdie, that ghost kid escapes like no other ghost I've ever seen before. One moment you have him on your radar, and the next moment you don't! Not that I trust these ghost tracking devices, we know it's inaccurate, what with it homing in on Danny all the time- "

"Dad-" Danny protested, planning on changing the topic.

Completely misunderstanding his son's intentions, he said, "Oh come on, Danny, you know those things are touchy. This stuff is inevitable in science! And if you didn't want our work to keep annoying you, maybe you could help us. I know a great Fenton extrapolator you could help us with. It's great for ghost dissections, completely harmless to help us with, those pesky gh-"

A voice cut through Jack's continuous rambling, sounding bored. "Ah, young Daniel. You know these teenagers, always running from parental figures, as if they have _some great secret _to hide_." _Vlad drawled, stabbing his steak with his knife, using much more force than strictly necessary. Danny narrowed his eyes, catching the subtle jab. What could Vlad possibly be up to?

"Exactly, Vladdie! I always say, your parents have been your age before too. We didn't exactly come into this world fourty years old." What could they possibly have experienced that we haven't? Jack laughs.

Jazz tensed and Danny grimaced. _A lot_. _Being half dead, for one._

The ghost hunter pummeled on, oblivious to the tension. "Anyway, like I was saying, that ghost kid's like nothing I've seen before. That filthy ghost! He appears and disappears without a trace! It's absolutely baffling!"

Vlad smiled pleasantly. "Mmhm. I assume, being a _filthy ghost_, Phantom's off doing some equally despicable act, attacking innocent humans … causing property damage… or, oh, I don't know… attacking his enemies in a _low down, backstabbing_ manner while they were caught unaware…"

Danny stared at his arch enemy, face blank. Vlad was pointedly keeping his eyes averted, looking down at his meal and slowly cutting his meat into pieces, spearing one on the tip of his fork. Vlad hadn't even bothered to flirt with his mom even once over the course of dinner. There was a chilly aura about him that Danny had never seen before. What did he do now? The last time he'd messed with Vlad was a long time ago, when he'd first become mayor. He'd learnt his lesson from that particular episode. Vlad couldn't possibly have held a grudge for this long? His eyebrow twitched in irritation. Well, if Vlad wanted to… Two could play at this game. He switched from staring at his food to looking at Vlad.

"Oh, I don't know… Phantom's not bad. I've seen worse. What about the Wisconsin ghost? He sure was quick to underestimate you, Dad. I wonder what he's doing now?" He smirked at Vlad.

Midnight blue eyes narrowed. "I'm sure he's been… busy."

"Sure. Busy stealing money, harassing people with his pointless attempts at world domination, and possibly intruding into people's homes and eating their food?" Danny stated innocently.

"Sure he's been busy! Those putrid ghosts just don't know how to keep it in-" Jack started, only to be interrupted.

"Oh, I wouldn't know, Daniel. But whatever he's doing, I'm sure he's much more successful than Phantom… With his petty teenage grudges and his inability to keep from doing childish things in his temper." Vlad insulted.

Jack nodded. "Of course he's like that, ghosts don't-"

The other half ghost recoiled in anger. "Oh yea? Well without him, half the town would be overrun with psychopathic ghosts like Plasmius by now, childish tempers or not!" He yelled.

"Danny, that was rude, there's no need to shout!" Maddie chided. Vlad smirked, his eyes saying _I-told-you-so_.

The youngest Fenton's gaze was redirected back down and he sipped his juice angrily. There was a beat of silence.

"Kindly Pass the Salt?"

Pursing his lips in suspicion, he did as he was asked. Vlad received the glass salt holder with more force in his grip than necessary, causing Danny to wince. He glared at Vlad, hating the not-quite-there smirk on his face, wondering about his chances of getting in a good shot to his smug face and having ghost powers remain undetected at the same time. His eyes seemed to be taunting Danny in a way that infuriated him to no end. The parents remained blissfully unaware of their little staring match, Jack shoveling food down his throat.

Vlad broke the stalemate to speak. "Why, Daniel, you seem extremely approving of Phantom, considering the disturbance he frequently causes to your town and school."

"You've said it, Vladdie! Why, the other day-" Jack said, and was interrupted once again.

"He doesn't harm others like Plasmius does." Danny hissed.

Vlad was not done yet. "The danger Phantom poses might be… minimal, I understand, considering his apparent _lack _of power, thus you probably feel acceptance towards this particular ghost, but his inability to control himself and _think_ before his reckless actions would pose a threat to everyone around him. Those really who know him would never accept the ghost boy as he is."

Danny glared, feeling his words hit too close to home. He knew he was reckless. And he knew his parents might never accept his ghost half, alternate reality parent's reassurances or not. He'd always feared…

Jazz opened her mouth, but Danny quickly put an end to her sentence by glaring at her. He didn't need someone to fight his battles for him. He shoved those thoughts back into their mental drawers, deciding to mope later. The older half ghost was playing with him again, drawing on his temper and insecurities. Jazz had always warned him about it. Danny sighed and shoved a spoon of mush into his mouth, planning on clearing his plate faster despite his lack of appetite. He resolved to get through this without unnecessary conflict. Whatever Vlad wanted, he was in no mood to play with him. His first priority was clockwork's message. And that probably meant putting up with the man, annoying as it was.

He wasn't making it easy though. The billionaire seemed almost intent on insulting Danny in every sentence. Almost as if he was angry at something Danny did. Danny could not for the life of him figure out what the other Halfa was referring to.

"Hey, did I mention about my new Fenton Extrapolator?..." Jack continued, not feeling like being interrupted again, effectively putting an end to that line of conversation.

The rest of dinner passed in such a manner. When the meal was done, Jazz had slunk off into her room after a meaningful glance at Danny, and Jack ran off into the lab to work on his latest experiment. Maddie lingered in the kitchen, cleaning up and washing dishes.

"Maddie, dear, please, don't bother yourself with such household chores. As your guest, I would love to help."

"Oh, Vlad, I couldn't possibly-"

"Nonsense, Maddie, it's no trouble at all! Besides, I have Daniel to help me, don't I?"

Danny spluttered, one foot halfway out of the kitchen, jaw dropping. "Uh-" He floundered, turning around.

"See? He doesn't mind!" Vlad quickly interrupted, a false smile on his face, disarmingly cheery.

"I suppose Danny has to do his chores once in a while…"

"Great! It's settled then, Danny will help me wash the dishes! Why don't you help Jack in the lab?" _God knows he needs all the help he can get, the fat oaf… _

Right on cue, there was a zapping sound like a fly wandering into a mosquito net, followed by a yelp.

Maddie was quick to relent after that, running down the stairs to the lab. "Jack, don't touch that!"

Vlad lingered in the kitchen, watching her as she left. Danny, sensing his distraction, took the opportunity to sneak out the other door…

Only to be picked up by his visiting archenemy by the scruff of his collar. "Not so fast, Daniel." Vlad hissed into Danny's ear.

The kitchen was empty, with all other members of the Fenton family at different places of the house. It was not a good scenario. They both could sense a fight on the horizon. Danny couldn't wait to be free of Vlad, but right now the man wasn't letting go.

"What do you want, Plasmius." he responded irritably, going intangible in an attempt to slink out of his grasp. It hadn't worked, as the other male went intangible along with him, and Danny was left dangling from Vlad's arm, feet barely brushing the floor, arms scrabbling blindly at the hand holding him in an effort to have the billionaire release his shirt.

"Oh, you know very well why I'm here. Let's not dance around the issue, shall we? I'm afraid I'm not _calm _enough for that."

"When are you _ever_ calm?"

Vlad growled in frustration, releasing the hold he had on Danny's shirt collar. The other Halfa was dropped, and the moment his feet touched the ground again, he quickly spun around, not wanting to have his back turned to the enemy. Before he could place a well aimed punch to the older male's face, though, Vlad pushed him backwards with a hand on his chest, slamming him backwards into the tiled kitchen wall. The teen hit the wall with a thud, spine aching from the impact. Vlad did not remove his hand, and Danny struggled as he tried to squirm out from the hand pressing him to the wall.

"Lemme go, you pyscho!"

"Oh, insulting my sanity now, are we? While I can assure you I am perfectly fine, I am not so sure about you, however. _What were you thinking_? What compelled you to throw away the last bits of common sense you have?" His voice increased in volume, leaning closer as he spoke, expression one of quiet anger.

"What are you talking about, you fruit loop?" Danny yelled, trying to shove Vlad's hand away without having to resort to ghost powers.

"_You know perfectly well why I'm here!"_

Danny cringed as Vlad roared into his face. He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. _Okay, okay, calm down_. Even when thwarting his world domination plans Danny had never seen Vlad this mad. He couldn't help the low spark of fear in his mind as he stared into furious navy eyes.

"You tried to reveal my secret. _Our secret_. And while I am pleased to tell you, Daniel, that you have _failed_," Vlad said, placing great emphasis on the last word, "I still must say, whatever petty grudges you may have, that was undoubtly the most _foolish_ decision you have ever made in your _very short life."_ His hand on the white and red shirt turned into a grip, giving the shirt a tug for emphasis.

Danny looked at Vlad in confusion. "What? Wait, dude, you're not still pissed at the whole college reunion thing right? Because I swear I haven't told mom your secret yet… Not that she'd believe me."

Vlad stared. _He really doesn't know_, he thought. He faltered for a moment, grip on Danny's shirt loosening.

But then, who else could it be? Vlad had reasonable confidence that no one from the ghost zone could have done such a thing. And the only one who fully knew his secret was Daniel. He racked his brains for possible alternatives but came up blank. _Or,_ he thought, _Daniel could be lying…._

Danny, taking advantage of Vlad's momentary hesitation, sent a small toxic green ectobeam towards his enemy's left eye and turned intangible. The billionaire gasped and released Danny to cover his injured eye. The younger Halfa twisted and darted away from the other man, warily assuming a battle stance with his knees bent, ready to run. He slowly backed away as a look of fury crossed Vlad's face, and a ring of brilliant darkness formed around his waist. Danny turned his back and tried to escape, but he had barely gone three steps before he came face to face with the blood red eyes of Plasmius.

"Not so fast." He hissed. With a shove, Danny tumbled backwards and impacted against the dining table, bringing a chair down with him with a crash, landing in a heap. There was a clatter as a spoon fell from the collision and something small and shiny rolled out from underneath him, spinning away.

"Oww, Vlad, what the heck! I swear, I didn't do anything!" Danny protested, wincing. The other halfa was a lot stronger than him. Even more so when he was mad, Danny noted, feeling the beginnings of tiny bruises everwhere. He hurriedly checked the kitchen door, half expecting to see his parents charging up the stairs at any given moment. That was loud. It was almost as If Vlad was too mad to bother about secrecy anymore… Which was unsettling. Usually, Vlad would be the calm one, riling Danny up until he attacked. Today was definitely new. Warily, the teen grasped for the elusive cold feeling within him, willing the blinding white rings forth as easily as flipping a switch, to let his alter ego out. He floated a few inches away from the ground, ready to defend himself. Vlad looked dangerously on edge today, with none of the reservation he usually gave when it came to dealing with the other half ghost.

"That's what you may claim, Daniel, but something, did, in fact, happen."

Vlad floated closer, and Danny tensed. He could feel a fight coming, one that he wasn't sure he would walk away from intact. He blinked, and before he knew it, there was a hand on his neck, constricting his air supply, and Danny was pretty sure he was dead this time. He grasped the other man's wrist, the hold barely doing anything to defend from his attacker. If only there was some distraction, something, anything…

As if on cue, Vlad's phone rang.

There was a huge sigh coming from Vlad. The tone was businesslike, standard, nothing fancy- like every other office ringtone. But it seemed to irritate the man to no end. Sensing his frustration, Danny stayed still. As if contemplating whether to answer or not, Vlad looked from Danny and back to his pocket where the sound originated. Rolling his eyes, he dropped Danny on the ground once again, turning human in a flash, cape disappearing to be replaced by a suit, and reached for his phone. "Typical. If it's about those stupid stakeholders again, I swear…"

He put his phone to his ear, turning away from Danny as if he hadn't been trying to kill him just moments before. The teen stayed hunched in the corner, massaging his bruised throat with a look of confusion and uncertainty on his face. He would try to attack Vlad while his back was turned, if he wasn't so sure it would make Vlad ten times angrier.

"What?" Vlad hissed irritably into the phone, tone as sharp as a knife. He was holding the poor piece of technology in a death grip, as if he could crush the person who called if he tried hard enough.

Danny hesitated, standing awkwardly, waiting. Suddenly there was a tiny square of light that shined over, with a tiny rainbow of light trailing behind it, akin to the reflection that one would get when you angled watches at the right manner under the sun. It was barely noticeable, but it was enough to catch the younger half ghost's attention.

Danny thought his pocket felt suspiciously light for a moment… He put a hand to his pocket, and realized something was missing. Something important. It must have fallen out of his pocket when he collided into the table and rolled away. He frantically swept his gaze across the kitchen floor, hoping to spot it before Vlad did.

The teen turned around, and there it was, right under Vlad's foot. _Crud._

Thank goodness Vlad was distracted by the phone… for now.


	4. Four

I'm kind of loosing faith in this story, to be honest. I planned for it to increase in pace and so scheduled all the action and parental bonding thing at the back, but it's hard when the story is just getting less interesting to write... Who even reads DP fan fiction anymore, anyway?

Complaining aside...

-*oOo*-

A voice answered through the phone, the sound just faint enough for Danny to miss the words. Vlad had a good phone, he noted. All fancy and high tech.

"Jane. You'd better have a good reason to disturb me this time-"

There was a faint static-y sounding voice as the caller, who Danny assumed was Vlad's assistant, timidly tried to answer, but Vlad cut through her words and continued speaking. Noticing his distraction, Danny slunk closer to Vlad, remaining human just in case. There it was, the little round pocket watch, near Vlad's foot. One expensive polished shoe was stepping on the very end of the chain, and said owner of the shoe had his back turned to Danny. He cautiously took a step closer, moving slowly. If he made a sudden movement Vlad might think Danny was attacking him or even worse, notice the watch.

"When I say im taking the day off, I mean it-"

There it was, lying there, ruby red gem innocently blinking up at Danny under the kitchen lamplight. If only he could get close enough to touch it, he could yank it out and get it back… or was Vlad too heavy for that kind of thing?

"…people want to see me? Now? What am I hiring you for then? If you don't deal with them, then soon, I will end up dealing with you…"

Vlad's foot shifted, and Danny flinched, and stopped. Maybe not. Too risky. Maybe he could turn it intangible and then pull it. He was right next to Vlad now. How best to proceed? The taller man's shadow cast him in darkness as Danny slowly bent down.

The voice of the woman on the phone turned high pitched and distressed "Their names?" Vlad asked dryly.

Danny could sense Vlad's proverbial eyes on the back of his head in staring at him, so he pretended to be fiddling with his shoe, taking his own sweet time. When he made sure the billionaire wasn't paying as much attention to him, He slowly curled one hand around the pocketwatch, the cool metal welcome on his skin. A sense of relief washed through him. He was so close…

Jane's distressed voice reported a set of names. Vlad suddenly tensed. "But that's impossible…" He breathed, in shock.

Sensing his distraction, Danny took this opportunity to quickly turn the pocket watch intangible.

There was a sigh. "One second, Jane."

Danny blinked, and had a second's warning before a foot impacted into his chest, sending him skidding sprawled across the tiled floor.

"Ugh…"

"Trying to do anything while my back is turned isn't wise, Danny." He chided. Somehow, Vlad's voice had lost its bite and sounded more like an exasperated dad with his toddler's than an enemy's. With the impact, the pocket watch fell from his hand for the second time, this time landing near Danny and not rolling away like a belligerent child. With his head still ringing, he couldn't hear what Vlad said to his assistant next. But before he knew it, He heard the snap as Vlad placed the phone back into his pocket. With his vision still swimming, he clumsily picked up the pocket watch and attempted to shove it back into his pocket.

"I suppose… I owe you an apology-" Vlad started. But the billionaire paused, and stared.

Before the stars had even finished clearing from his eyes, Vlad bent down and plucked the watch straight from Danny's hands.

"Hey!" Danny protested. "Give that back, it's mine!"

Vlad had a strange glint in his eye as he turned the pocket watch over and examined it.

Danny didn't trust the look on his arch enemy's face. He tried desperately to distract Vlad with banter. "If it weren't enough that you had to come to Fenton works and pick a fight for no reason, now you're taking my stuff? You've sunk to a new low…"

"Daniel."

"…What?"

"Where did you get this watch?"

"None of your concern."

Vlad glared warningly at Danny.

He reluctantly relented. "…From a ghost I know."

"When?"

"Recently…After I figured out someone was trying to expose my secret. I figure they're related. Speaking of which, you wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?"

Vlad pinned his glare on Danny, expecting the other halfa was mocking him, but all he could see in the younger male's eyes were curious sincerity. Vlad decided to grant him benefit of the doubt. That, and Danny had never been too hard to read.

There was a sigh. Vlad could feel a headache coming on. There were too many things that were happening too suddenly, even for one as used to a fast paced business atmosphere as him. He dropped his line of sight to the pocket watch, fiddling with the knobs with the precision of an antique appraiser. Danny inched closer, cautiously curious. He saw Vlad caress the red gem inset into the cover gently, apparently fascinated. Danny knew the older Halfa would never show interest in something solely for it's monetary or artistic value. Vlad purchased priceless masterpieces with a similar vibe to another person picking up groceries. Whatever it was, the watch must have been important.

"What's the time now, Daniel?" Vlad questioned flippantly, focused on the watch.

The other halfa took a break from his open gaping and turned to the analog clock sitting on the kitchen counter. "Um… Seven… forty-nine?"

"Hmm. Curious."

"What, Vlad?"

The man debated whether or not to answer, which was probably an understandable facet of his personality considering his habit of keeping secrets to himself. But he surprised Danny with his forthcoming answer.

"This watch is broken-" Vlad started.

"What do you mean, 'broken'? It was perfectly fine when-"

Vlad waved his sentence away, never taking his eyes off the watch. His speech took on a sense of urgency. "Let me finish, Daniel. To be honest, I have little faith in the accuracy of your kitchen clock. The time it shows is approximate at best. But assuming it's accurate, this pocket watch is broken and it's indicating almost the same time as it is now. It shows Seven Fifty. Which either means that it broke the moment I laid my hands on it, which I doubt, or something else entirely. Now, I happen to know that this watch is no mere trinket. I have no idea how it managed to land itself in your hands. It's an object of immeasurable power, which I know someone like you can't possibly comprehend-"

Danny did fail to understand much of what Vlad was monologing on about, but he knew an insult when he heard one. The other halfa opened his mouth to protest, but Vlad ignored him.

"Not the time, Daniel. This is urgent. As I was saying, clocks of such nature are known never to break down for no apparent reason. Which means there's a high possibility that an event of a ghostly nature will happen at this exact moment."

Danny's eyes widened.

They both stood frozen for a few moments, waiting for something of a catastrophic nature to happen.

A moment passed with nothing happening. Danny crossed his arms, pinning Vlad with a stare. He opened his mouth to speak. "Oh, sure-"

At that moment the minute hand on the kitchen counter clock gently ticked to seven fifty.

And fate decided to mark such a passing of time with a surprise. The sound of an explosion was heard outside of the Fenton Household, rocking its foundations. The kitchen lamp attached to the ceiling shook violently on it's wire before slowing into a steady oscillation. The lights flickered. Surprisingly, there was no debris, a testament to the quality of the house and Maddie's foresight when constructing the place. One does not simply live in a house frequently attacked by ghosts without some sort of reinforcement to its structure, so it doesn't topple and kill everyone in it once every three months.

"…Give or take a few seconds." Vlad corrected, unnecessarily.

"What the…!"

Danny, with his heroic impulses, immediately dashed out the door. Shaking his head at the boy's recklessness, and more out of morbid curiosity than anything, Vlad followed. Shoving the front door aside like it was a mere inconvenience, the boy was all set to dash out to the scene of crime, but he halted at the porch, gaping at the sight in front of him.

Vlad, who was following close behind, accidentally bumped into Danny at his sudden stop. "For goodness' sake, Daniel-"

The sight of the incoming storm wiped away any complaint he might have had. He stood on the welcome mat, taking in the sight of Amity Park. "Well. This is certainly unusual."

Somehow, it reminded Danny of a scanner. The Fenton house faced a rather wide street. At first glance it seemed that a huge wall of night was creeping across Amity from right to left, it's purplish red darkness a sharp contrast to the sunset hues on the other side of the barrier. It reached all the way from the ground to the sunset sky, moving slowly but steadily like the progress of a loading bar, sweeping the streets as it did so. The separation between the two sides was as sharp as a knife's edge, the contrast as clean as if somehow they had been split in two. It was like Jello had decided to take a solid form and swallow the street whole. A really straight, large jello that stretched farther than the eye can see.

But closer observation showed that the difference was more than just in purple hues and lighting. The people on the left were the same as you and I. Only they had noticed the very obvious wall and were running away from the purple mass in frantic, screaming movements. The side on the right, however, after being absorbed by the barrier, somehow managed to have its inhabitants and objects turned into props that one might see in a circus… Someone whom Danny recognized as one of Paulina's posse, too slow to escape the wall, was instantly turned into a clown. Another who got his head stuck in a mailbox, screaming for help, was turned into a stuntman fitted in a cannon. Most unusual indeed.

As he saw a nearby house being turned into a circus tent, some semblance of deja vu triggered a reaction in Danny's brain.

"Freakshow?"

"Yes, it certainly does seem like his handiwork doesn't it?"

"No, I mean… this has happened before. In… in another…" Words failed the half ghost as he stared the scene before him in horror.

"Hmm. Curious." Vlad said, as he ticked another confirmation off his mental checklist. Another mental cog fell into place in his train of thought.

Ever positive, Danny sighed, "Well at least it's moving slower this time."

Indeed it was. Instead of encompassing the entire globe in the blink of an eye as it did last time a certain someone had the reality gauntlet, the change was happening only gradually, perhaps slightly slower than a leisurely strolling speed. The speed did nothing to quell the hysteria of running pedestrians, however, as they grabbed whatever valuables they had and ran in the opposite direction of the approaching monstrosity. It was in the distance, all the way down the street from where the two Half ghosts were standing, a good few blocks away. For now.

"We have to stop it!"

"Yes, we do, don't we?" Vlad sighed, followed by muttering something about 'bad publicity for the mayor'. "But first, don't you think _that _over there is also of noticeable concern?" The billionaire drawled, pointing to a screaming batch of people in the distance, in the direction of what appeared to be Casper High. As soon as he turned his head to look at the direction he was pointing in, Danny drew his arms closer to himself as a chill ran down his spine and his breath misted in front of him.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me. What else can go wrong?"

"Don't… jinx it."

"Right. Mass murdering ghost, or slowly approaching freaky purple wall? Or should I just handle everything while you run like a coward? Again? " Danny muttered sarcastically.

"Abandon Phantom once with Vortex and you just can't let it go, can you, boy. Just because I may fit your naive notion of 'evil' doesn't necessarily mean I approve of anyone terrorizing my own town. Except myself, of course."

With a moment of consideration and mostly due to the fact that Danny was staring at him, one eyebrow raised, Vlad relented. "Somehow I doubt even you can make the situation any worse. Why don't you run along and leave the clown business to me?" Not to mention, this was his town, his territory, and it didn't do well for ghosts to start destroying the whole thing.

Not about to waste any more time planning witty banter, Phantom flew off towards the ghostly disturbance, doing the 'I'm-watching-you' sign as he did so.

Vlad stood standing as he left, watching as his archenemy's figure grew smaller in the distance. He then directed one last intense look to the pocket watch still clutched in his hand, as if a cursory last minute inspection could solve all of their current problems. Seeing no sign of intervention from the silently gleaming ruby, divine or ghostly, Vlad sighed and placed the pocket watch securely in his pocket. He turned his attention to the approaching purple wall, slow yet steady. Should he really…?

But then, he would never be able to live it down if the boy had yet another valid reason to call him a coward. Not that there was a high chance the ghost boy could stop something of this scale. It was beyond his capabilities. But really, if he was being truthful with himself, it wasn't so much about his pride. He knew about the boy's idiotic tendencies to run himself into the ground trying to save everyone.

What if he never saw Daniel again, because he neglected to help...

With a grimace, Vlad Masters took off in the direction of the approaching mass.

If nothing, ignoring today's events would just lead to a stack of paperwork he would utterly dread having to deal with.

-*oOo*-

Thanks for reading! If you even managed to read all the way down here, just comment, uh, 'orange' or something. Even one word makes me really happy. It doesn't have to be a paragraph long review. It means much more to me than you think. Have a nice day :)


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